The Importance Of Arranging Your Own Survey

If you are considering becoming a landlord and buying your first investment property to let out or are already in the business and looking to purchase another property then you may require a buy-to-let mortgage towards funding the purchase. If this is the case then the lender will require a valuation report carried out on their behalf to establish the property’s value.

A full structural survey should identify if there is a problem with subsidence.

It is worth remembering that the valuation report is being carried out for the benefit of the lender – not for the landlord. Therefore, it should not be relied upon by a landlord who should seriously consider having a more detailed survey carried out on the property.

A valuation report for mortgage purposes is focusing on establishing how much the property is worth so, if the lender had to repossess the property because the landlord was unable to maintain the monthly mortgage repayments, that there would be sufficient monies available from the sale of the investment property to liquidate the borrowing. Yes, the report may highlight certain works that may need doing to the property but it is no where near as detailed a report as you would get with the likes of a full structural survey.

The later survey should identify any structural problems with the property. If there are any then this could result in a landlord deciding not to buy a property. After all, if a property were found to have subsidence then the cost of putting this right could run into tens of thousands of pounds and surely a landlord would not want to end up being responsible for the works which they would be if they ended up buying the property. If the subsidence had not been spotted by the surveyor carrying out the full structural survey for his or her client (the landlord) then the landlord, having bought the property, could try to sue the surveyor. The survey could also be used in negotiations with the owner.

So, if you are considering entering the property investment market as a landlord, you should consider having a more detailed survey than one carried out for mortgage purposes.

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